agnes

Parallel Lives

/ Tracy Abell

Here is a screen grab from today of the third and last hawk that has yet to leave the nest above the Cornell University athletic fields:

#3 contemplating fledge

And here’s today’s Agnes episode as she makes her yearly attempt to go off the high dive at the pool:

AGNES by Tony Cochran

Agnes 6.11.12

The hawk is 70 feet above the athletic field
and Agnes is probably only about 10 feet from the water.
Still.
I very much empathize with both of them
as they summon the energy and courage to take the plunge.

The Agnes Toolbox

/ Tracy Abell

       

Agnes 6.10.12

Okay.
I know I have talent, but I'm for sure also wielding my perseverance
(although I hope not in a bludgeon-esque manner).

                 

Message from God

/ Tracy Abell / 10 Comments

            

AGNES by Tony Cochran

I am exceedingly freckled and in possession of several sharpies.
Perhaps it's time to deviate from my regularly scheduled program . . .

                    

Off to the Mountains

/ Tracy Abell / 8 Comments

      

Just wanted to say I’ll be scarce around these parts for the remainder of the week
as I’ll be in the wilds without internet access or cell phone service.

Send up a flare if you need to get in touch.

In the meanwhile, Agnes is facing her fear of the high dive . . .

AGNES by Tony Cochran

    

I can only hope I’ll have Agnes’s grace and presence of mind 

should I ever find myself dangling above a pool.

 
                

Name Those Phobias!

/ Tracy Abell / 2 Comments

              

AGNES by Tony Cochran

Okay, I’m hard-pressed to come up with a more original phobia than these,
but I will admit to being seriously creeped out whenever I think back to the video
I saw of a male frog giving birth through the skin on his back.
Not even a spork could make that more scary for me.

How about you?
Got PHOBIAS?

                

Friday Five: The Losing My Memory Edition

/ Tracy Abell / 9 Comments

                  

1)  For several years I’ve had to walk out of rooms and back into them
in order to remember why I walked in there in the first place. 
(A bothersome turn of events but not too scary, memory-wise.)

2)  More and more frequently, I feel as if I’m turn turning into my mother

who used to call out each of her five kids’ names before hitting on the right one.
(A somewhat humorous lapse in mental faculties that feels a bit scarier whenever 
I accidentally call my kid or husband by my dog or cat’s names.)
 
3)  A couple months ago, I drew a total and complete blank on a friend’s name 
for about five minutes.
(That memory void freaked me out, and freaked out Wildebeest even more 
when I confessed it to him.)
 
4)  Earlier this week, I was writing a check (something I don’t do all that regularly but
have done for thirty years), and temporarily forgot how to write out the cents part of the amount.
I really and truly could not remember how to do it.
(Ack!  That is all I can say about this episode.)
 
5)  I was thinking all these things were signs of aging and/or early onset dementia but then
I read Agnes today and realized the same happens to the very young:
 
AGNES by Tony Cochran
 
Have a great weekend, everyone!
May you create wonderful memories that stay with you forever and ever.
 
              

Defining Friendship

/ Tracy Abell / 18 Comments

               

AGNES by Tony Cochran

Sometimes we need to establish boundaries so that our friendships may continue.
That said, I’m confident my friends here in LJ-Land who are all exceedingly supportive (tolerant?)
of my bird mania would varnish my nose if I asked nicely.

Isn’t that right, friends?

Hellooooo?  Anyone out there?
 
                

My Little Corner of the World

/ Tracy Abell / 14 Comments

               

AGNES by Tony Cochran

I’m easily overwhelmed by the sheer amount of clean-up necessary,
in my kitchen cabinets and
underwear/sock drawer and
linen closet and
manuscript and 
flower beds and
storage room and . . .

Let’s face it, I’m freaked out by the mess we’ve made of the planet.

So.
I’m taking it a little bit at a time
and dealing with my personal messes.

 
I’ve cleaned up the kitchen and vacuumed the upstairs.
Later I’ll clean up my manuscript,
and then I might reach for the backhoe.
 
But maybe I should hold out for a bulldozer.
 
              

Go Well, Be Well

/ Tracy Abell / 2 Comments

                 

This one is for Zippy and  !!!

(Agnes is dressed as Wellness Woman, dispensing advice on healthy living . . .)

AGNES by Tony Cochran

Such is the danger of three-chord songs.

             

Keep Your Pants On!

/ Tracy Abell / 4 Comments

       

AGNES by Tony Cochran

Which just goes to show writers cannot possibly appeal to every demographic.
Stories involving little sailor pants are a genre unto themselves.

                        

Speaking Out

/ Tracy Abell / 12 Comments

                  

For the past months we’re been treated to non-stop messaging on how the middle-class 

must "make sacrifices" (which translates to massive cuts in services with threats to Medicare
and Social Security while the wealthy get tax breaks), because deficit spending is out of control,

and now our president, without any discussion with We-the-People or members of Congress,
is spending millions of dollars to bomb Libyan people who have the grave misfortune of 
living above a huge amount of oil the greedy plutocracy wants.
 
Just in case you’re angered / baffled / incensed by this turn of events,
 
And just in case, like me, you’re at wit’s end with the non-stop horrible news,
here is a laugh from our good friend and philosopher, Agnes:
 
AGNES by Tony Cochran